We are students from Coláiste Éanna taking part in the CanSat competition.
We got together around early November and decided to enter the competition, where the entrants build a small satellite that fits in a coke can.
Each school has a primary and secondary objective. The primary objective is to measure pressure and temperature. The secondary objective is decided by the teams themselves.
Our secondary mission is to connect two mini cameras to the can – one would be an Infra-red camera and the other would be a normal spy camera.
We are going to program the regular camera to find a sheet of paper on the ground as it parachutes down.
We are hoping that this would contribute to finding pieces of wreckage from a plane crash. We are also attaching a GPS to the can as this would make it easier to find when it has landed.
The Infra-red camera could also find signs of heat to look for survivors in the area. Our other team are putting on multiple thermistors and covering them with different fabrics to see which insulators are best for use in space suits and which insulators are the worst. This could contribute to the manufacturing of space suits for astronauts.
We have learned a lot about satellites and using different programmes and software. We are very enthusiastic about this project and are really enjoying participating in the competition.
We really hope to get through to Norway and win the competition as we think we have really good chance of winning!
You can find us on:
Twitter: @TheFelixProject and @HawkEye_Project
Facebook: ‘The Felix Project’ and ‘Hawk Eye Project’
Read more about the CanSat competition for senior-cycle students to design and launch a system carrying a simulation of a real satellite here.
